Entertainment
'Lone Survivor' & 6 Other Movies With Titles That Give Everything Away
If you go into the movie theater to see the newest Navy Seal flick, Lone Survivor , optimistic about the survival of all of the characters, then you clearly haven't been paying very close attention to the title of the film. The war film — which stars Mark Wahlberg, Eric Bana, Ben Foster and Taylor Kitsch — received good reviews, but critics couldn't help but state the obvious: that calling a war film Lone Survivor basically gives away the ending.
In a world where spoiler alerts are a MUST, it's surprising that Lone Survivor is alone in spoiling a major plot point right in its title. Here are 6 other films that gave it all away right up front.
(Spoilers ahead, obviously.)
Image: Universal Pictures
'The Virgin Suicides' (1999)
No need to guess what happens to the five Lisbon sisters in this Sofia Coppola directed film. Based on the book by Jeffrey Eugenides of the same name, the point of the film isn’t how the sisters died, or even really why — it’s really about the fascination that the neighborhood boys had with these beautiful, mysterious blonds. Still, you won’t be very surprised by the tragic ending.
Image: Paramount Classics
'Saving Private Ryan' (1998)
This World War II film would have really sucked if the troop that goes into battle to find a family’s lone surviving son didn’t succeed. Sure, war movies aren’t exactly about making their audience happy, but it was pretty obvious that this film would end with Private Ryan returning home safely — even if the journey to get him home was epic.
Image: Paramount Pictures
'This Is The End' (2013)
And you know what? It was. Lots of apocalypse movies end with someone (like Bruce Willis) ultimately saving the day, but in This Is The End, everybody just, you know, dies. (To be fair, we weren’t counting on that a meaner version of Jonah Hill would be able to save all of humanity, anyway.)
Image: Columbia Pictures
'End Of Watch' (2012)
You may have totally missed the spoiler in this film title if you’re not up on police lingo. “End of watch” is a euphemism for the death of a police officer. So you can guess what happens in this Jake Gyllenhaal drama…
Image: Open Road Films
'The Sixth Sense' (1999)
Sure, everyone knew what this movie was about — a little boy who sees dead people. The “sixth sense” is a common theme in horror movies, so it’s not like the title gave all that much away… well, its American title didn’t, anyway. The Chinese title for The Sixth Sense? It translates to He’s A Ghost.
Image: Buena Vista Pictures
'Psycho' (1960)
The events in Psycho are old news now, but back when the film first came out it was one of the most shocking and terrifying films people had ever seen. Really, though? The American movie title already hints that there isn’t something quite right with Norman Bates — someone has to be the “psycho” from the title, right? But just in case the American title didn’t make it all that obvious that Norman — not his mother — was behind the terrible events at the motel, Portugal has a title that will give away basically everything. When translated back into English the film’s title is The Man Who Killed His Mother.
Image: Universal Pictures
